auto box 5 or 6 gears

[EXPLORER]

wonder if anyone could help, doing 70mph, in drive, switch it to semi auto,and it shows its in 5th gear, and i can go up to 6th in manul mode, if I am at this speed when I change over should it show that I am allready in 6th, or is this the norm,
tnx , ps first auto I have had, what I am asking, is it 5 gears in drive auto, and in sport it has 6, ?? is that how it should be??? thanks

[X5Sport]

You should have 6 gears in all modes, but the shift points depend upin the mode you are in.

Mine changes into 6th at 50mph in 'D' unless I am applying right foot, in which case it might be a tad faster. What happens if you're doing over 50mph in 'D' and you lift your foot just a tad so you're acceleration eases?

If you select Sport mode (shifter to the left and 'S' appears in the gear window) then the auto program shifts and the box will drop into 5th and stay there until you are doing 100mph, at least that's what mine does. The 'S' is for Sport, and goes to 'M' if you move the shift lever fore or aft for manual changing.

If you are doing a steady 60mph in D and you go into Sport it should shift from 6th to 5th. It should shift back to 6th if you go back to D.

[pvw10]

I thought auro e53's all had 5 gears not 6 ?

Just checked they do, all e53 autos are 5 speed hence on the dash in manual it says 5!!

[B1G JV]

Nope, E53 pre-facelift are 5 speed, facelift are 6 speed.

Switching to sport from drive at that speed will put the car into 5th, if you're quick and go across and up in manual in one foul swoop then you'll stay in 6th, if you're slow it'll be 5th, then moving should go to 6th. In sport while gunning it you can remain in 5th until insane speed and never hit 6th unless you select it........... that's my experience anyway. I've had about 8 cars witht the steptronic box and all behaved the same. Remember that the box also 'learns' your driving style and programs itself to suit. You can reset this by disconnecting your battery for a while and reconnecting it. HTP

[pvw10]

Top shout that man, been counting flippin gears all day :O)

[X5Sport]

You can also clear the adaption by turning the key to Pos2 (don't start the car), fully depressing the accelerator pedal for 30secs and turn tbe ignition off.

Our facelift E53 has the 6sp version of the ZF transmission. Counting them can be fun!! You can also be thrown off-count if the transmission decides that it can pull away in 2nd rather than 1st. I was told once that in normal D, 2nd is used by default on the 6sp box, but in S or M it will use 1st.

[petert]

Have to disagree with BIG JV on the 5 speeds pre-facelift, 6 speeds post-facelift. My 54 plate 3.0i post facelift was 5 speed (probably still is!)
Peter T

[B1G JV]

My apologies, I take it all back! (well, nearly :p ) The rule applies for all cars 'except' the 3.0 petrol, which retained the 5 speed box.

2001 to 2003 E53 3.0i, 3.0d, 4.4, 4.6iS with 5 speed auto
2004 to 2006 E53 Facelift, 3.0i still 5 speed auto
2004 to 2006 E53 Facelift, 3.0d, 4.4, 4.8iS with 6 speed auto

[petert]